Let’s hope that was attention grabbing. Trump is actually getting people to wake up from their political slumber and to take notice. That is a good thing. Why is he so popular? Most people have no idea what they want. They do know that they want something different. And, Trump is different from most politicians.

He is unfiltered and uncensored. One thing we have to admire about him is that he has mastered not caring about what other people think. If we listen close to his message we hear a wounded child acting out. We could react to his message, as is happening all over the planet, but remember, throwing negative energy after negative energy creates MORE NEGATIVE ENERGY. Just because the negative energy came from someone who is one of the good guys, does not change the fact that it is negative energy. This adds to the total negative energy on the planet.

How do we stop? Try sending him some love instead. Stop what you are doing and visualize him and send him some heart energy from your heart. I double dare you. Why is his hate worse than our hate? Hate is hate. If we want real transformation of hate and inequality in the world, it starts with us practicing this level of self-mastery. Challenging yes. Impossible no.

This leads to a philosophy in life that if we employ it in every situation will transform our life and make our life easy and happy. Ready? Everyone is doing the absolute best they can given their current state of consciousness/awareness. Including ourselves. And, everyone is playing a role that they agreed to play before they came into this incarnation.

Might it be that Trump agreed to play the bad guy in order to help humanity evolve and wake up? Your mind will not allow you to consider this possibility because the mind has very rigid thought forms that don’t allow for this possibility. Stretch here.

Might we even be able to find empathy for another human being that is obviously hurting and self-loathing? Might we see that we are all connected and that human named Trump is mirroring to us the darkest part of humanity that is showing itself for one reason…to be healed.

Most traditional press feeds on negative energy. Trump feeds on the negative energy as well. What happens if we don’t give any negative energy? Any dynamic, whether it be political polarization between Republicans and Democrats or between spouses, can not survive unless it is continually being fed with energy. If we stop playing our role and giving our power away, there will be a shift. Let’s hold a vision for what we want to create in the world and take action without getting sucked into the many negative vortexes in the world.

It is time to stop acting like a child ourselves and threatening to runaway to Canada, even if we are half joking. Fear is expressed when we fight, take flight or freeze (do nothing). It is time to stand in our power. The strongest power on the planet is love.

Now is the time to start paying attention to the sheer volume of information our brain is required to process in a day and to consciously put it on a diet. 40,000 plus unread emails in one email account is not uncommon. Reading and deleting emails and texts can turn into a full-time job. Information is coming into our nervous system from all sides every second we are awake.

The output from our brain is our life. Ever heard the saying “you are what you eat?” It seems to be widely accepted that what we put into our body determines the output of our body. So too with our brain. We must choose what input we want to allow into our brain because it will determine the quality of your life. Take an inventory of what information is coming into your brain. Pay attention to how it makes you feel. Most likely the answer is overwhelmed.

Now notice how much of this information going into our brain is not positive. Not positive is defined here as not helping us be a better person, not bringing us joy, not teaching us something we have a desire to learn, not inspiring us, not offering solutions to systemic issues, not relevant to one’s life….therefore, it is just a distraction.

What if we consciously choose what we allow into our brain and therefore our lives? What if we started seeing our lives as being as flexible as play doh and as subject to remolding as our brain? What if we didn’t need distractions in our life? What if we stopped escaping our life and started living it?

We all have a certain amount of energy in a day and it is being sucked into distractions. Why? One answer: the relationship we have cultivated with our mind.

As we move faster and become busier, so too does our mind. The mind-body connection is so strong that we don’t notice how fast the mind is moving until we slow down the body. We must right our relationship with our mind. In Yoga it is said that the mind was given to you to be your servant. In our society today that relationship has become reversed. We literally do everything that our mind is telling us to do and we aren’t aware that this is happening. And, the nature of mind is to want more….more information in this case.

The information we are bringing in on a daily basis determines how we use our brain. The mind is the software that runs on the hardware of our brain. Chose information and sources wisely. Tell the mind that enough is enough. Put your brain on a diet and free up some disc space for creating the life of your dreams.

On the path of self-realization any conversation or chance encounter can trigger the opportunity for healing and growth. Check out self-compassion.org and take the assessment on where you are currently in the self-compassion practice. It becomes clear that self-compassion and self-care are very different. Self-care is more a broad topic and can include physical, emotional and spiritual care. Self-compassion can be very subtle, but to sum it up simply, “how hard are you on yourself?”

What does your mind tell you about you when you make a mistake? Or what does your mind tell you about your flaws or inadequacies? This is a really important self-inquiry to spend some serious time reflecting on.

This is mind talk that if we listen to will make us feel alone, isolated, judgmental and separate. The opposite of Self-compassion is Self-criticism. Say we are being hard on ourselves for not writing a blog post in 8 months, just a random example. We are denying ourself some pleasure or expression that the Soul or Authentic Self wants to experience. This is not sustainable.

Self-love and Self-compassion are synonyms. The beautiful thing is when you say no to the mind chatter and you cut yourself a break, you will be more compassionate to others and not hold them to the same standard that your mind wants to hold you to. A standard that is in no way attainable. There is an overall softening and melting. The perspective that Everyone is doing the best they can with their current level of consciousness becomes experienced Truth. This is what the World needs most right now…more love.

Living on the edge requires one to examine the life given to us, and, at times, make some difficult decisions. During the dismantling of the ego structure, some things just have to go. Often times, it is You that has to go. Leaving a community, job, business, spouse, family, city, and friends can be extremely challenging. I am reminded of the 5 stages of grief and the saying that it is always darkest before the dawn. It is important to process this sadness and name it, so that the acceptance and rebuilding from the Authentic Self can begin. To Infinity and Beyond!

I had a conversation with two friends today about gratitude and appreciation. We discussed how they are very different. At first, I thought of them as kind of the same but, to be honest, I don’t think I have ever thought about it much. Upon deeper reflection and discussion, it became clear that gratitude is a feeling and being state, whereas appreciation is more of a doing action step.

So, what comes first in manifestation? I think being in a state of gratitude cues the manifestation of the thing you are trying to create in your life, and then when you get it, you must express appreciation.

I will apply these principles to a recent manifestation in my life. So, at the end of April I wrote about the work I am currently doing with the book Tapping Into Wealth. I am still loving this book by the way. I have been tapping my brains out. I know the mind is telling you that a simple little thing can’t possibly work because it is too simple! The mind likes to make things complex and I can tell you, the things that really work are extremely simple.

I was checking my email and I saw an email from a local children’s theater that I support. The email said you could buy raffle tickets to support the children’s theater and the prize was an IPAD air. I was about to hit delete when my intuition said “buy a raffle ticket”. My mind started saying “why would I buy a raffle ticket? It’s a waste of time. I don’t need an IPAD Air. We already have plenty of electronics around here.” But, my new rule is to ALWAYS listen to my intuition. So I bought one raffle ticket as instructed by my intuition. I then felt gratitude. Gratitude is a feeling not a thought.

I got an email that I won the IPAD Air. My first instinct was to donate it back to the Children’s Theater because I have a habit of giving too much. I am practicing receiving, not giving, I have giving down! I proceeded to receive the IPAD Air. I then casually tossed it on the table. Wait, this is a gift from the Universe and I just threw it away and pretended that it did not happen? I put the IPAD Air on my altar and said “thank you” to the Universe and gave the Universe appreciation. Gratitude first and then appreciation.

I wonder how many other times the Universe was trying to give me a present and I missed the opportunity? To Infinity and Beyond!

Last summer at training when I was very open, I heard intentional communities is your golden path. At the time, I had no idea what a golden path was, but the image I saw in my mind was of a winding golden path that looked similar to the yellow brick road from the Wizard of Oz. I consulted Lord Google and discovered that the golden path is a Daoist term that refers to living your life according to your true nature.

Aligning all aspects of your life with your true nature is a direct route to happiness. How many aspects of your life do not seem natural to you? If you are going to a job you hate, then that is a sign you are out of alignment and not following your golden path. How do you figure out your golden path?

Consider what your practical skills are and write them down. Now think more broadly and look at what are your esoteric skills. The ones you would probably not write down on a resume. For me, I am a connecter and bridge builder. Finally, add into the mix what are your passions?

Many people believe they have to earn a living following their passions. Your passion may only be one aspect of your golden path. Usually, we can see only one tiny piece of the larger puzzle, but we grab onto it and run with it before the greater vision can be developed. The authentic Self has many aspects. It is important to not disown any one aspect. Any aspect we disown has power, but if we integrate all the pieces of the Authentic Self together, we have the power.

For me, it started with energizing my higher brain. The next “brain” to come on line was the gut. My decision making skills started to improve. I started listening to my intuition on every little thing to strengthen the intuitive muscle. I tested my intuition against what the gut was telling me. The third “brain” to come online was the heart brain. I literally felt intense heat in the heart chakra. Now the three brains are communicating in ways that I can’t even describe at this point. There is a large super computer network coming online. To infinity and beyond!